When trying to lose weight or get healthier, most people clear out the junk food and sugar. The Harvard Business Review suggests treating the rest of your life like this—restructure your environment to focus on your most important priorities.

There are too many temptations that draw us away from our true values and priorities. HBR says "It's like trying to lose weight while living in a candy store."

To make sure you make progress on the good stuff and not the junk, the article recommends identifiying up to five things you want to focus on for the year and spend 95% of your time on those things; the other 5% is like sugar—okay in little doses only. Each morning take a look at those five important items plus your "other" box and choose what to work on that day.

Obviously if your work day and tasks are dictated by others, you may need to sit down with them to share your new "diet" or plan, or at the very least you can use this strategy to use your spare time more wisely. It's kind of like purging your schedule like you would a packed fridge. Photo by o5com.